Thursday, September 27, 2007

A slice of childhood - chocolate biscuit cake

Earlier in the week I was craving something sweet and comforting. A cake of some description was suddenly needed. And needed fast. I threw open the cupboards to look what ingredients were lurking. Green and Black's Maya Gold chocolate. That was a good start. Brownies perhaps? Excellent. I started to assemble the ingredients thinking that in under an hour I would be pulling a tray of freshly-baked goodies from the oven (and no doubt diving straight in before they were cool and set).

Alas there was a flaw in my plan. I had no eggs. Cake-baking was clearly off for the day. I'm afraid I was not of the 'whizzing round to the shop' inclination on that particular day. I tried to put the cake idea to the back of my mind and get on with something more 'useful'. But the sweet craving was still there. I headed back to the kitchen and stuck my hand into the biscuit jar where I pulled out a digestive biscuit. It did virtually nothing to satisfy the craving. I needed something far more wicked.

And then it struck me. Chocolate. Biscuit. Cake. Of course. This delicious 'cake' is set in the fridge and was a childhood baking favourite as it was so easy and quick to make. I decided that the Maya Gold chocolate with its hint of orange would make a subtle twist on the old favourite.

For my birthday, I was given a Green and Blacks Chocolate Recipe Book and seemed to remember spotting a rather good recipe for this treat from fabulous bakery Konditor and Cook. For those yet to discover the joys of K&C, I urge you to wait no longer. Their shops are sheer heaven for cake and bake lovers like yours truly. You can visit their website for more info though I don't think the site does them justice in the slightest. The best thing I ever saw in the Waterloo branch was a box of their 'magic cakes' - these are small cubed individual cakes piped with messages (Happy Birthday etc). When placed together the cakes spelled out 'Will you Marry Me?'. Genius. A proposal AND 15 cakes to enjoy. What could be better?!

Anyway, enough of all this and onto the matter in hand. After all, I did say I was in a hurry for this cake, didn't I? To cut a long story short, I based the recipe on theirs but as I had no eggs, I omitted the egg. I also left out the nuts and cherries - I'm just not a huge fan.

The bad news? You have to wait four hours for it to set. But, oh my, is it worth it when you take the first bite. Not exactly the healthy option, obviously. I can almost feel the arteries clogging as I eat it. But oh so delicious in small quantities!

Maya Gold Chocolate Biscuit Cake

Ingredients (makes around 10 small, thin slices)

125g unsalted butter

200g Maya Gold chocolate (or plain good quality dark chocolate)

75g golden syrup

100g digestive biscuits

50g sultanas

1. Line a small loaf tin with cling film or baking parchment

2. Melt the butter and syrup in a small pan and heat until just boiling.

3. Melt the chocolate over a pan of simmering water (or in the microwave).

4. Mix the chocolate and buttery syrup together.

5. Crush the biscuits but not too small as they break up further whilst mixing.

6. Add biscuits and sultanas to the mixture. Mix.

7. Pour mixture into the lined container, smooth over the top and when cool, place in the fridge for at least 4 hours to set.

Notes -

Do add walnuts and glacé cherries if you like - they are traditional, I just don't like them. The cherries look good as decoration on the top.This is VERY rich indeed. Small slices only are needed and it is a very adult version of this childhood classic.This needs to be kept in the fridge if to keep a firm texture.

10 comments:

I make a very grown-up version of this as birthday cake for anyone and everyone. It's fairly similar to yours, but I bash the biscuits much much smaller, so that you can't see any pieces of biscuit when you slice through, although it's still nubbly, and one of the side-benefits of this is that it doesn't take anything like four hours to set - I've sometimes made it an hour before it was due to be eaten!

Thank you for all your comments. Joanna - your version sounds great and would have satisfied my craving a great deal faster. Does yours use egg? I was curious to know what difference the egg would have made, had I included it as per the original recipe.Nora B - I know. I hadn't eaten it for ages either. It certainly satified my craving!

Rosie - they were so delicious. I am rather sorry they have all gone! I took them to work to prevent myself eating them all and they were devoured by all.Nic - Thank you. I bet it is good with rich tea biscuits too!

Food, Glorious Food - Confessions of an idle gastronome

Who Am I?

Good food and wine are my greatest indulgence. I am never happier than when pottering in the kitchen, cooking up a storm for a crowd. Food shopping excites me more than clothes shopping. I take cookery books to bed. I dream about freshly-caught mackerel. I hang out at farmers' markets. I think you're getting the picture.